


Shatter the Pendulum

by shadowsapex



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Interaction, Gen, Gotei Ichigo, Turn Back the Pendulum Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-06-25 13:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15641586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsapex/pseuds/shadowsapex
Summary: Shiba Ichigo, seated officer of Ninth Division, is hollowfied and exiled along with the Visored. Ichigo gets tired of the Visored's complacency and veers off on his own way of taking down Aizen. Along the way, he runs into the truth of a past he doesn't remember.





	1. the cursed night

_"If I cannot protect them from the wheel, then give me a strong blade, and enough strength..._

_"To shatter fate..."_

* * *

 

"Ichigo-san..."

"Urahara?" The boy pauses in the doorway, about to take off in a flash step, but hesitates. He turns back to the young scientist. "What is it?"

Kisuke presses his lips into a line. Something's strange about this night. The pieces are laid out before him, but he can't find any answer. People disappearing, mysterious deaths, souls unable to maintain their original form... he's missing something and it's staring him right in the face.

Ichigo shifts on his feet. "I should get back to Kensei-san and the squad." His eyes narrow, scanning Kisuke's face closely. "Unless something's up?"

Ichigo would believe Kisuke if he told him. But he also wouldn't stay. He'd want to warn Kensei and the others.

Kisuke sighs and shakes his head. Maybe he needs a reality check. He's been working for a long time without any sleep, after all. No wonder he's out of sorts.

"It's nothing," he says. "Be careful. And tell Muguruma-taichou to be careful too."

Ichigo shrugs. "He probably knows that better than me, but if you say so." He turns away, raising a hand. "See ya."

And maybe Kisuke's going crazy, but he almost runs after him.

* * *

"Captain!"

Ichigo barrels through the forest, twigs snapping and bushes rattling in his way. He hardly notices the branches that scratch at his skin and clothing. The trees block out whatever light might come from the moon, and he's barely able to avoid crashing into their trunks in the dark.

"Captain!" he shouts between gasps. "Kensei! Mashiro!"

He hears a scream up ahead which might be from Kensei. But it sounds changed, wrong.

Dread roils in his gut. Something's wrong tonight, he just knows, and he has a sickening feeling that he should know what it is. It's an uncanny feeling, like seeing the events in a nightmare he doesn't consciously remember come true.

The trees thin up ahead. He swings his sword off his back, bursting out from the cover of the forest into a small clearing. He's at their campsite, but…

It's too quiet, and the smell of blood hangs in the air. Those dark lumps lying on the ground—they couldn't be—

Ichigo flashes to one, turns it over. He recognizes the sixth seat, Toudou. His eyes are glassed over and staring, blood spilling sluggishly from a slash across his chest. The campsite is choked with hollow reiatsu, but this is the work of a blade.

Suddenly, Ichigo stiffens, leaping to his feet and whirling around. He brings up an arm to block just as a gauntleted fist slams into it. The sound of snapping bone is unmistakable in the silence.

The blow sends Ichigo tumbling across the ground, jarring his injured arm. He clenches his teeth against the pain, coming to a stop and lying there gasping. He blinks several times to focus his eyes. A hulking figure stands watching him in the dark, red eyes glowing through its mask, white armor covering its fists and feet.

Ichigo stands, hefting his sword in one hand. His eyes wander over its silver hair, the torn captain's haori it wears, the tattoo on its chest. "Kensei-san?"

The figure throws back its head with a roar, and it sounds just like the howl of a hollow. It charges. Ichigo raises his blade, bracing himself against the impact, but Kensei's fist knocks it aside and sending him staggering back. His other fist smashes into Ichigo's ribs.

The breath is driven from him. He's sent flying, crashing into and through a tree before tumbling to a stop on the forest floor. He huddles on the ground, shaking, clutching at his ribs and fighting for breath. He pulls himself up, leaning against the tree behind him. There's blood in his mouth. He hopes it's from biting his cheek instead of life-threatening internal injuries.

A stir in the leaves behind him, and a sound like a high-pitched giggle. Ichigo throws himself forward just before the tree explodes into splinters. He glimpses green hair, a white mask.

The tree tumbles slowly over, its trunk reduced to so many wood chips. Mashiro appears above it and slams a spinning kick into it, and Ichigo flattens himself to the ground as the top of the tree sails over his head and goes crashing into the forest.

Ichigo struggles to stand, a rush of dizziness hitting him and nearly taking his feet out from under him. He sticks his sword into the ground, leaning over its hilt and gasping for breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Mashiro," he whispers. A rustle in foliage and an echoing hiss answer him. He follows the sounds and sees her standing above him on a low branch, stock-still and staring at him. Her normally bright eyes are hidden behind the mask.

"Kensei. Mashiro. What happened to you guys?"

Mashiro cocks her head and gives no response. Ichigo straightens up, raising his sword and stepping backward with his eyes on her. His arms shake. Pain racks his entire body, a dull ache that contrasts with the fire of his broken arm and ribs. His head feels like it's full of mud.

Mashiro crouches, then she kicks off the branch and is gone in a blur. When Ichigo next glimpses her, she's right in front of him, kick aimed for his head. He has just a second to think _I'm going to die_ , but her kick hits his sword instead of him with a metallic clang. He doesn't remember bringing his sword up.

The impact jars his arm, pushing him a step back. He shoves Mashiro away with the blade. She vanishes.

He shunpos out of the forest, looking around wildly for her. A foot thuds into the ground behind him. He turns and jerks back as a fist swings through the air in front of him, just missing him. The wind from it blows his hair to one side.

Kensei growls, his head lowered, fists dangling at his side. Ichigo backs away, fingers white-knuckled on his sword.

"Kensei, snap out of it. What are you doing?"

Kensei's fist glows with energy. Ichigo leaps aside and it plows into the ground next to him, blasting a deep meter-wide gouge all the way to the edge of the forest. Kensei's eyes glare at him through a cloud of swirling dust.

He rushes at Ichigo in a blur. Once again, Ichigo feels as if something else is driving his sword. He jams its tip into the ground and braces the flat of it with his right arm and knee. The impact of Kensei's fist nearly rips the hilt out of his hand, a blast of wind tearing at his robes and cracks running through the ground at his feet, but he stands his ground.

Kensei swings another fist and Ichigo catches it on the edge of his blade, pushing him back. Out of nowhere, Mashiro flies at him from the left, one foot extended. His head snaps up in a panic. He has no way to block—

The shock of her kick runs through his arm and his entire left side. He looks up to see her foot caught by his hand. But— no way, his left arm was broken. Now it feels like nothing ever happened. And his hand—

He lets Mashiro go and she hops back with a high-pitched growl, but he's staring down at his hand, its chalk-white skin, the claws tipping his fingers. Grey fur surrounds his wrist, red stripes twining across the back of his arm. He flexes it, feeling no pain. The pain of his ribs and the scratches and scrapes across his body are gone too. He feels great. He feels like he's never been alive until now.

He shakes his head. No, no. What's happening? He reaches a hand to his face and feels more than hears the grate of claws against a mask he finds there.

His breath freezes in his throat. This isn't really happening, is it? This night feels more surreal than ever. It's a dream, a nightmare, but if he falls to it, he'll never wake up again.

Kensei roars and takes another swing at him. Ichigo leaps back. He swings his sword underhanded at Kensei in a short arc. "Getsuga Tenshou," he growls in a voice that doesn't sound like his. A wave of black energy crashes into Kensei and takes him off his feet, engulfing and obscuring him.

Ichigo turns, blade spinning in a horizontal slash at Mashiro, who's leaping at him in midair. She narrowly avoids getting bisected by blocking with the white armor across her forearm. It shatters, his blade biting deep into her arm.

Mashiro screeches. She whirls in midair and kicks Ichigo's sword aside, leaping back and landing on the ground in a crouch several feet away. She holds her arm close to her side. Blood drips from it onto the ground.

Ichigo blinks. Wait, what is he doing? He had struck to kill just then, hadn't he? He hadn't even been thinking about it, but suddenly he's acting like Kensei and Mashiro are just two more enemies to take down.

A low growl from behind him—the sound of a beast. Before he can move, a fist slams into his back and sends him flying.

He smashes through several branches, tumbling across the ground, before skidding to a stop on the damp floor of the forest. He collapses there, gasping weakly. He can barely breathe. Maybe he's just panicked, but he can't feel his legs.

No, get up, get up! He's not gonna die here!

His fingers curl into the ground. Kill them. Kill his enemies, so he can survive. It's so simple… isn't it?

He shakes his head. No. Kensei and Mashiro are his friends. They're important to him, but he can't remember why. All his reasonings are lost in the fog that consumes his thoughts.

His head hurts and he's so tired. It would be easier to give in. Why does he care so much anyway?

He pushes himself off the ground. His wounds are already healing, their pain already a memory. Power floods him, rising to his call and urging him on. It feels so natural, like something he should have always known.

_Accept this power and you'll be unstoppable. You'll never have to fear again._

_Haven't you always been seeking strength?_

_Remember why. You swore to kill that man._

_You'll have the strength you desire. All you need to do is sacrifice everything you ever were._

* * *

"No!" Hiyori shouts, turning around. She immediately has to jump back to avoid a strike from Kensei, which pulverizes the ground at her feet.

She raises her sword, breathing hard, scrapes stinging across her face and body. She knows her last gesture of defiance is pointless. This isn't a hollow before her, despite every impression. This is Kensei. He's someone she knows. How can she live with striking him down? It seems a bit inadequate now, what they teach you at the shinigami academy.

Kensei charges in a burst of speed that takes her breath away, drawing back one fist to swing at her. Her hands clamp onto the hilt of her sword but it seems like such a paltry defense. She can't look—

Kensei's fist clangs off a blade that's not her's. A captain's haori flaps in the air in front of her, a blond-haired man standing between them with his sword raised in a block.

Hiyori gapes. "Shinji?"

Shinji glances back at her. "What's going on? That's... Kensei?"

Kensei stumbles backwards, glowing eyes staring at them. Behind Shinji, Rose, Lisa, and Love drop out of a flash step, running up.

"Shinji!" Love shouts.

"No way!" Rose says. "Is that Kensei?"

Shinji looks past Kensei, at a dark shape crumpled on the ground. In the moonlight, he just glimpses a flash of orange hair. As Kensei charges toward the new arrivals, Shinji flashes to the figure's side.

"Ichigo?"

The figure stirs. It lifts its head and yellow eyes glow out of the darkness, locking onto Shinji. Moonlight gleams off a bone mask.

Shinji stumbles back. "Shit—"

He freezes. He hadn't seen Ichigo get up but he's standing now, one arm raised and claws gleaming at Shinji's throat.

"Ichigo!" Hiyori shouts from the crook of Shinji's arm.

Ichigo's gaze shift to her. His eyes narrow at Shinji, two razor-sharp shards of light gleaming out from his mask. Finally, he lowers his hand and turns away.

"I can't believe it," Hiyori mutters. "He's up like nothing happened. After that hit he took!"

Shinji can get a better look at Ichigo now. He's wearing a skull mask, white with red stripes. His hair hangs past his shoulders, messier than ever. His shihakushou is scuffed and torn, showing white skin and red stripes sprawling over his arms and chest. His feet scuff in the dirt as he walks toward a metallic shape gleaming on the ground. He bends and picks it up—his cleaver zanpakutou. His movements are painfully slow as he straightens up and, when he turns to Shinji, a fragile and lost look in his eyes, he looks like he might actually recognize him.

Ichigo vanishes in a flash step. Halfway across the clearing, his blade crashes against Kensei's fist, blocking his swing at Love. Ichigo growls, feet sliding back in the dust an inch as he pushes against Kensei. Love pivots on the spot, like he's not sure who to point his sword at.

Ichigo's fighting Kensei, his superior officer. He just... defended Love?

"Well?" Hiyori says. Shinji looks down at her in surprise.

"Aren't you gonna back him up?"

Shinji stares at the two masked figures, snarling as they exchange punches and sword blows. "You expect me to get in the middle of that? Without getting torn apart?"

"You gotta do something!" Hiyori snaps. "Ichigo's up against a captain!"

He actually seems to be holding his own quite well, surprisingly enough to Shinji.

Ichigo manages to shove Kensei back with his blade. He flashes aside just as Kensei's fist plows into the ground where he was standing. He's about to charge again when Lisa shouts "Ichigo! Wait!"

Ichigo stares at her. He looks around and his eyes widen, like he's just realized who the people surrounding him are. "No," he says shakily. "You shouldn't be—"

Kensei's fist slams into Ichigo's chest with the snapping sound of ribs. Ichigo lets out a strangled cry, thrown back and skidding along the dusty ground. He collapses, then tries to pick himself up, gasping harshly and clutching at his chest.

"Ichigo!"  Lisa cries.

Kensei charges with a roar like an angered bull. Ichigo drags himself up from the ground with his claws, staggering on his feet. He raises his sword and meets him with a wild, echoing scream. Blood flies.

* * *

"Throughout all of my research, I have found only one way to surpass a shinigami's natural boundaries. That is hollowfication. But the method is imperfect. I had sought out more and more powerful specimens in the hope that one would survive, but it seems that was pointless as well."

"What? It's working, ain't it?"

"A reasonless beast was not my aim. And the soul stabilization problem still remains. Though it was unexpectedly generous of the Captain-Commander to provide us with so many test subjects all at once."

"I thought your aim was the Ichigo kid."

"That it was. No one sees his importance, least of all himself. Though his hollowfication as well disappoints me."

"Aw, don't say that, Aizen-sama. Give him a bit o' time, maybe a grudge to hold."

"Exactly. Well, shall we? It seems the excitement is just about over."

* * *

"Bakudou #99: Kin!"

Black bandages wind around Kensei's arms and flatten him to the ground. For the first time that night, something like silence reigns in the clearing.

Hachigen lets down his arms, huffing for breath. "What's happened here? Why are Kensei and Mashiro…"

"I dunno," Shinji says defeatedly. "I'd hoped you'd know. Isn't there anything you can do with your kidou?"

"I'll see," Hacchi says. "But I've never encountered anything like this. Shinigami turning into hollows—it all just mystifies me."

"Oi, Ichigo," Shinji calls out, turning to him. The boy's slumped on his knees on the forest floor, propped against his sword and breathing shakily. He doesn't respond.

Shinji frowns and steps closer. Ichigo had spoken. He'd almost managed to tell them something. Shinji doesn't know what state his mind might be in, but…

"Ichigo!" he says louder. "Say something. If there's anythin' you know about what happened to you guys, you gotta tell us."

"Shinji," Hiyori groans from the crook of his arm. "Let go of me."

Shinji blinks down at her—he'd forgotten she was there. He flashes up to Ichigo, one arm reaching out to shake his shoulder. "Ichigo, listen!"

Ichigo lunges to his feet faster than Shinji could've imagined, a wild look in his eyes. He lashes out at Shinji's extended hand, claws tearing through his palm and fingers. Shinji jerks back with a hiss, clenching his hand into a weak fist and feeling blood drip down it.

Ichigo stumbles several steps back. "Get away from me." He blinks, and the look in his eyes is replaced by vague puzzlement. "Shinji? What are—"

 _"Shinji,"_ Hiyori groans, and shit, she sounds bad. She breaks off into a coughing fit that racks her whole body.

Shinji turns back to Hacchi. "Hey, d'ya suppose you could heal Hiyori first?"

In that second of distraction, Hiyori twists out of his arms. Before he can turn around or speak, a sword slashes across his chest. He staggers, his brain jittering to a stop at the sight in front of him. Blood spraying through the air—his own. Hiyori standing in front of him, eyes vacant, a mask forming across her face. She throws back her head and howls.

"No!" Ichigo chokes out, rushing forward from somewhere in Shinji's peripheral vision, one hand reaching out. Hiyori turns to him. Ichigo doesn't even try to defend until the sword impales him through the ribs.

He coughs, staring at Hiyori. His hand grabs Hiyori's arm and rips her sword out of his body, tossing her to the ground. She instantly leaps to her feet with a roar.

Ichigo staggers back, eyes wide and breathing raggedly, one hand over the wound that must've punctured his lung. _"No,"_ he croaks. He looks up. "Why are you all still here? You shouldn't be here! It's too dangerous! You have to get far away—"

That's all he manages to get out before the world goes dark.

Shinji can't see. He can't hear anything but his companions screaming in pain around him. "Hey!" he shouts out. "What's going—"

A sword plunges through his back. The cold steel within his body vanishes just as quickly. He falls.

The darkness draws away like a curtain and the man standing in front of him, removing a face mask, sword stained with the blood of his friends, is Tousen Kaname of Ninth Squad.

"Why?" Shinji cries. "Why would you betray your comrades?"

When Aizen steps out of the woods, all the pieces come together.

It might the the least surprising thing that's happened tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a fic I've been planning for a long time. It's going to be quite long. Let's see how far I can get with it.
> 
> Please comment. Comments are the best ^^


	2. crossed boundaries

"Aizen. I knew it."

The lieutenant has a smile on his face, mild and genial just like what he wears while strolling about the company barracks, but all you need to do to ruin the illusion is look at his eyes. The smile doesn't reach there. They're frozen and glittering with triumph.

"Oh?" Aizen says. "How long have you known?"

Running into the kid at the academy decades ago and of course, everyone's heard of the lauded prodigy, and maybe Shinji can stop and chat with him for a few minutes, offer him a place in his squad. And they hadn't conversed for more than two minutes, but for the whole time Shinji's combat senses had been screaming  _ lies, deception, danger, _ and the whole time he'd had nothing to pin his errant senses on. The boy gave nothing away. His tone was polite and spoke of an eager-to-please and impressionable youth. His smile was as genial as it is now. Perhaps his eyes had been the giveaway. The first time their gazes had intersected, there'd been a look within his eyes, gone in a moment, that saw humans only as collections of parts to be disassembled and studied.

Aizen must've gotten better at the facade since joining the squads. Shinji never saw that look in his eyes again.

"Since you were in your mother's womb," Shinji snarls, and Aizen only smiles.

"I see."

"I always thought that you couldn't be trusted," Shinji says, trying to pick himself up from the ground. "That's why I made you my lieutenant. To keep an eye on you."

"Yes," Aizen says. "I thank you. That is precisely what blinded you."

He draws his sword from its scabbard. The steel gleams coldly in the moonlight. "Do you know the ability of my zanpakutou? Of course you don't. I have told everyone that it was merely—" His lips twitch upward. "—a trick of the mist."

He holds up the sword. "Kyouka Suigetsu's true power is Kanzen Saimin. The ability to completely control all five senses, to cause the enemy to mistake that which is right before their eyes. But I cannot take all the credit for deceiving you. Your distrust of me blinded you just as effectively as any illusion. That is all."

Aizen takes a step forward, then pauses. His sword raises just in time to clash against Ichigo's cleaver from behind. He knocks Ichigo's blade back and sends him reeling, clawed feet scuffing on the ground to maintain his balance, sword still vibrating from the force of his own strike. Aizen, unmoved, turns around slowly. Ichigo's eyes widen behind his mask and he sinks into a tense stance with his sword pointed at the lieutenant.

"Ah, Kurosaki Ichigo," Aizen says. "Are you becoming impatient? Settle down, I'll deal with you in due time."

He raises a hand. "Hadou #61: Raikouhou."

Ichigo barely has time to bring his sword up as a shield, then a blast of white light completely hides him from Shinji's sight. It crashes a path wide as a house through the forest, splitting trees into showers of splinters and scorching the earth to ash. Ichigo's nowhere to be seen among the smoke and wreckage.

"Ichigo!" Shinji charges, sword lashing out at Aizen. His lieutenant blocks without batting an eye, slight smile still on his lips.

"If you gotta problem, take it up with me," Shinji growls. "Leave Ichigo outta it!"

"Did you presume I came here just for you?" Aizen says mildly. "In any case, I don't think you're free to worry about others right now."

"What do you—"

A rending pain tears through Shinji's chest. He opens his mouth to scream and a white liquid floods from his throat, covering his face, solidifying and bonding itself to his skin.

"Dammit," he chokes out, clutching at his face. The liquid clings sluggishly to his fingers. "No way. Me too?"

He turns back to his unconscious companions as white liquid pours from their mouths. He rounds on Aizen, hands barely gripping his sword. "What is this? What are you doing to us?"

He nearly collapses as another rush of sickening pain makes black spots dance in front of his eyes.  _ "Aizen!" _

He lunges, sword swinging blindly. A flick of Aizen's blade against his sends him reeling back.

Aizen tuts. "Another imperfect specimen. Clearly the hollowfication is still unstable, even with a captain-level host."

"Hollowfication?" Shinji rasps. "What does that…"

"It's not necessary for you to know what that means," says Aizen. 

He holds up a hand. "Bakudou #81: Dankuu." The barrier shimmers into existence behind him, just before an all-consuming torrent of crimson reiatsu slams into it, obliterating everything in its path and dyeing the night a monochrome red. It stops dead against the wall, which doesn't even tremble under the force. Not a breeze blows on the other side.

The cero fades to reveal Ichigo lunging at the barrier through dissipating scraps of crimson energy, sword raised, teeth bared in a howl. He looks barely worse for wear from the point-blank Raikouhou, superficial burns healing across his skin and his shihakushou covered in scorch marks. One clawed hand lashes out and smashes the barrier into fading shards of emptiness. Ichigo brings his sword down in a rush of black energy.

Aizen reaches up, stops the blade dead with one hand. He grabs its edge and tugs Ichigo off-balance, his sword swinging at Ichigo's midsection. Reacting with preternatural speed, Ichigo raises his other hand in a block and Aizen's blade cleaves through his forearm.

Ichigo spits out a hiss of pain. He yanks his blade free from Aizen's grip and leaps back, clutching at his severed hand. White liquid gushes from the end of the wound and regenerates it in seconds.

"Disappointing," Aizen says. "Is that all the power you have?"

He takes a step forward and Ichigo backs away, eyes wide and hands tightening around his sword's hilt. He sends his sword swinging low in a blur of dark steel. Aizen's blade flashes and Zangetsu is sent hurling to one side, impaling point-first into the ground hard enough to leave the whole blade quivering. Aizen almost lazily switches his hold on his sword and smashes its hilt into Ichigo's face, shattering his mask.

Ichigo's scream is agony and a sort of broken desperation. His legs crumple underneath him. Aizen grabs him and holds him up by the neck, his head lolling in his grip. As Shinji watches, his skin regains its normal color and the claws and long hair fade away. His breathing is ragged, his eyes closed.

A small smile curls on Aizen's lips. "Finished with your pointless struggles?" He turns to Gin and Tousen, dragging Ichigo behind him. "Let's bind him and take him back. We'll put his power to good use. Eliminate the others. They have served their purpose quite well."

"No," Ichigo croaks. Shinji realizes with a start that he's still conscious. His eyes are cracked open to slits, irises glittering a preternatural yellow. 

He clutches at Aizen's hand around his neck, nails digging into Aizen's fingers. "What… what're you talking about? You want to take me back somewhere? You think you can use me?"

"My, my, Ichigo. I own you, don't you know that?"

Ichigo snarls and tries to knee Aizen in the gut. Aizen sighs and slams him back into a tree. Ichigo lets out a choked cry and his head lolls.

"You're much too troublesome," Aizen says. "Perhaps I should cut off a few of your limbs."

"Stop!" Shinji lurches forward, but his knees hit the ground as his legs give underneath him, sending sprawling to his hands and knees in the dirt. His every breath is agony as the mask tries to consume his heart, spreading inch by inch across his face.

Aizen looks up. "How pitiable. You're still conscious." He walks closer, letting Ichigo fall to the floor in a heap, and raises his sword. Shinji's barely able to prop his head up and look Aizen in the eyes.

"I'll end your suffering soon enough," Aizen says, his sword gleaming over Shinji's head. "Never let it be said that I am incapable of mercy."

Aizen's eyes widen. He dodges to one side just as a blade swishes though the air and catches on cloth. His lieutenant badge goes clattering to the floor.

A black-cloaked figure draws back from his strike, his sword raised as he and Aizen size each other up. "Well now," says a familiar voice from under his hood. "I've no doubt you're capable of a great many things, Aizen-san."

"Urahara Kisuke," Aizen says. A slight smile tugs at his lips. "What a pleasant surprise."

Urahara's eyes flick to Shinji and the unconscious figures sprawled behind him, and wander across the clearing to Ichigo struggling to pull himself off the ground. They snap back to Aizen, a hard look in them.

"Urahara-san?" Ichigo croaks, like he's disbelieving his own eyes. "No way. Why did you come?"

Urahara looks Ichigo over, his eye color, his arms shaking to prop himself up, the reiatsu that lashes around him, dark and untamed. He turns back to Aizen. "What did you do to them?"

Aizen blinks. "Do you assume I could have done something like this? That's not an admirable trait, to cast suspicion on your fellow officers. I simply found the injured members of the special task force in these woods and attempted to—"

"These? Injuries?" Urahara looks up to meet Aizen's eyes. "It's not good to lie, Aizen-fukutaichou. This is hollowfication."

"I see," Aizen says, his eyes flashing with a twisted glee. "You're just the man I expected you to be."

He turns. "Kaname. Gin. We're leaving."

Ichigo's fingers scrabble across the ground as he pushes himself up. "Like hell I'll let you," he growls.

He staggers to his feet, one hand flailing behind him for balance and managing to catch himself on a tree trunk before he falls. When he looks up, a mask is growing around his left eye. "You're not going anywhere."

He leaps at Aizen. One hand reaches out to the side, and his zanpakutou hurls from the ground to land in his grasp. "I want answers!"

Aizen turns to him with an unreadable look that might be disappointment. Within the blink of an eye, his hand grabs Ichigo's sword arm and drives his shoulder into the ground, smashing the hard-packed earth. Bone snaps under Aizen's hand and Ichigo howls. His sword falls from his grip. He snatches it with his other hand before it hits the ground  and thrusts the point at Aizen's head. It stops dead against Aizen's palm.

"Do you truly wish to know?" Aizen says. "Then—"

"Ichigo!" Tessai roars from behind Urahara. "Move out of the way!"

Ichigo looks up and his eyes widen to see Tessai throwing an arm out, palm aimed at Aizen. "Hadou #88: Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou!"

Ichigo leaps back as the wall of lightning hurtles past him with the force of a runaway train, power shredding the air and tearing a deep gouge through the earth. Shinji looks away but the afterimage burns into his vision nonetheless. Aizen evaluates the kidou blast, then turns his back.

"Bakudou #81: Dankuu."

The barrier doesn't tremble as the lightning cannon detonates against it with a flash of heat that rolls over the clearing and a cloud of smoke as high as the treetops. When it fades, Aizen has vanished, leaving the barrier to shatter into a hundred fragments behind him.

* * *

Ichigo stands staring at the aftermath of the attack, breathing hard and coughing at the smoke and wood ash that catches in his throat. The tip of his sword wavers and hits the ground. Aizen's gone. He doesn't need to wait for the smoke to clear to know that. Aizen's reiatsu, along with his two compatriots, has already vanished from the area. They could be anywhere by now.

Ichigo falls to his knees and screams.

Hardly productive behavior, he knows. Not going to leave anyone thinking highly of his sanity either. He bows his head, fingers tangling in his hair and digging into the edges of the mask around his eye.

"Aizen Sousuke…" he whispers. The man who did this to him. To all of them. The man who toyed with him like he was a first-year academy student facing a menos. The man who's been part of the Gotei all this time, pretending their trust and respect, and, Ichigo can recognize now, hadn't shown his true nature for a single moment.

Ichigo lifts his head and blinks at his broken right arm. He rests his head over the break, feeling the jutting edges of bone beneath his skin. In no state to deal with finesse, he wrenches to bones roughly back into place, shutting his eyes against the wave of pain that hits him. When he opens them, his arm is already beginning to heal.

He flexes his arm and feels nothing but a lingering ache that quickly fades. It's unnatural, he knows it should be. But it doesn't feel that way to him. He feels better than he's ever been.

A footstep scuffs on the ground behind him. He looks up to see Urahara, lingering a safe distance away with a look of concern on his face. "Ichigo-san? Are you alright?"

He makes to take another step and Ichigo sticks out a hand. "Get away from me." His voice is hoarse.

Urahara freezes, and they study each other silently. Ichigo notes the way the man holds himself, the tense stance that's meant to look at ease, the one hand hovering near his zanpakutou.

Ichigo looks away. A ragged laugh comes from his lips. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"I'm sorry," says Urahara. "I can't do that, not if I'm going to figure out what Aizen did to you and everyone else. And with that in mind, I'll have to ask you to come back to the lab."

Ichigo looks up, staring blankly at the night sky. He could sit on the uncomfortable ground outside for the rest of the night, but at long length he forces himself to his feet, jamming his sword into the ground to lean on, and looks around the clearing strewn with terribly still bodies. A ringing silence hangs over it after the previous clamor. Standing in the middle is Tessai, seemingly deep in concentration on some complicated kidou.

"All I need you to do is stand closer to him," Urahara says. "The less of a radius his spatial transportation needs to cover, the less energy he'll need to use. It's all highly illegal, of course, so I'll appreciate if you kept this to yourself."

Ichigo considers giving Urahara the look that statement deserves, but decides against the effort.

* * *

The flash of light from Tessai's kidou tears away reality all around him and replaces it with the familiar white walls and mechanical clutter of Urahara's lab. Urahara runs off to dig up his old notes on hollowfication, and Tessai stays to heal Shinji and the others' wounds, despite being obviously drained from teleporting them over from Rukongai.

"We can't take them to Fourth Division," he says. "It's highly improbable to expect any leeway from Central 46 when it comes to a potential hollow threat. Urahara will have to do what he can here, and there's no time to waste. Our only hope against Aizen is if we can obtain the testimonies of four captains and lieutenants on our side." Then he sends Ichigo off for bandages.

"I always thought that guy was a slimeball," Ichigo grumbles as he storms deeper into the lab.

"Is that so?" Tessai says.

Ichigo rummages loudly through several drawers, nearly impales himself on a syringe someone had just left lying out, and finally finds a roll of bandages in a cupboard stuffed with first aid supplies, most of which fall out as he opens it.

"Not really," he says, heading back. "I just thought he was annoyingly nice. Huge suck-up. Practically had his own fan club following him around. And— I kept thinking he looked at me weird. But I always assumed it was just my imagination…"

"You're more observant than most everyone," Tessai says. "So there's no reason to blame yourself over this. You'll see, when Urahara returns, he'll be beating himself up enough for all of us."

Urahara hurries back soon, sweaty with his hair impossibly more disheveled than usual. Instead of notes or whatever he said he was going to get, he has nothing but one hand closed and clasped to his chest like he's holding something precious.

He opens his hand and carefully holds up a dark violet orb with a myriad of bright sparks within its depths, like the night sky fashioned into jewelry. "The hougyoku," he says, a bit short on breath."

Ichigo leans in. "What good's a gem going to do?"

"Not a gem," Urahara says. "This is my creation, the breakdown sphere. It manipulates the boundary between shinigami and hollow."

Ichigo stares at the unassuming tiny orb. It seems infinitely deep, like it's drawing him into its depths. He blinks and shakes his head. "Why do you have something like that?"

"I did my fair share of research into the phenomenon of hollowfication," Urahara says. "Sometimes I still regret it, like whenever I'm reminded of the fact that one of my own creations remains beyond my understanding. But it may be our only chance now."

He turns toward the hollowfied shinigami. "Tessai-san, if you could deactivate the time suspension?"

"Very well." The man makes a quick flurry of hand signs. 

Urahara holds up the gem in one palm and flares his reiatsu, raising it higher and higher until the very air is charged with power and almost too heavy to breathe. The hougyoku devours the energy like a black hole, and just when Ichigo thinks nothing is going to happen, unleashes a burst of violet light that fills the room, so blindingly bright it's almost white. Ichigo immediately snaps his eyes shut, but it still glows through his eyelids and seems to shoot through his body. He feels sick.

Ichigo cracks open his eyes and blinks the afterimage out of his vision to see Urahara frowning at the hougyoku in his hand in a way that doesn't bode well. "Did it work?" he says.

Urahara looks up and gives him a bemused smile. "Who can say?"

"Uh,  _ you?" _ Ichigo says.

Urahara sighs. "I don't know. I can't predict the hougyoku. It seems to have a will of its own, at times. I wouldn't have used it under any other circumstance."

He turns the violet orb over in his fingers with a sardonic smile. "We'll see in the morning. In the meantime, you'd better get some sleep. I have a feeling we're all going to need it."

Ichigo has more questions, but he realizes for the first time just how tired he is. Weariness drag at the edges of his mind, a persistent buzz in the back of his thoughts that he hadn't noticed in the rush of adrenaline and instincts he's been running on.

"Right," he mutters, without any idea as to how he  _ can _ sleep. As long as he keeps moving, the exhaustion won't crash down and bury him. He dreads the moment when he has to stop.

He turns to walk away, but his steps hesitate. He glances back at Urahara. "You need to sleep too, mad scientist."

"I'll try," Urahara says, not turning around. "But I have a lot of work to get done."

Ichigo frowns. "Did you even sleep last night? When  _ are _ you going to sleep?"

Urahara looks up with a vague smile. "I'll try, Ichigo."

Ichigo nods but can't get himself to walk away. After a few seconds of watching Urahara, who's watching Shinji, he blurts out. "I'll help you. With the work. You know, if it's anything I can do."

Urahara looks up at him. "Ichigo, you're exhausted. I can feel that much from you. There's no use in you pushing yourself to your limit."

Ichigo slumps against a nearby wall with a hoarse laugh. He scrubs a hand over his face and blinks at Urahara. "I can't sleep. There's no way I could. I'll be fine, anyway, it's not like I'll keel over from this. You got something for me to do? I'll take anything."

Urahara sighs, sweeping his hood off his head and running a hand through his hair, and when he looks up there's a small smile on his face. "Alright. I think we're going to have a lot on our plates tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if I did Aizen too over-the-top.
> 
> Please comment! Comments are the best.


	3. accidental terrorism

When Kisuke wakes up, he finds Ichigo slumped on a table and passed out, perched on a stool which is leaning rather precariously on two legs. He considers hauling Ichigo off to someplace that actually looks comfortable to sleep, but decides he'll let the boy rest a bit longer instead of waking him. He takes off his reiatsu-concealing cloak, throws it over Ichigo's shoulders, and goes outside for some fresh air.

* * *

Ichigo snaps awake when the outside door to the research institute crashes open, the sound loud enough to echo through the entire facility. His stool topples underneath him and sends him crashing to the ground in a heap, striking his chin against the edge of the table along the way.

 _"Ow,"_ he groans, slowly straightening up and rubbing his chin. He blinks in the light streaming through the lab windows. "Urahara-san? I swear, if that was you…"

He grabs the edge of the table and hauls himself up, weaving slightly on his feet. A blanket slips off his shoulders. He grabs it before it can hit the floor and finds it's actually a black cloak, the one Urahara had shown up in last night.

Ichigo slumps over the table, pressing the heel of his palm into his forehead. He grits his teeth against the oncoming headache. Last night…

And where _is_ the mad scientist? Ichigo closes his eyes and tries to filter through the surrounding reiatsu the best he can, but Urahara's nowhere in his lab. Or the whole division.

With a groan under his breath, he slungs the cloak over his shoulders and heads for the door, waving a hand over the motion sensor.

Except the door slides open before he reaches the sensor. He barely catches a glimpse of a slight figure on the other side, wearing the black outfit of onmitsukidou, then a knife impales into his chest.

He stumbles with a gasp. The cold steel vanishes from his chest and flashes up for his throat. Reacting faster than his thoughts, his hand snaps up and grabs the small girl holding it by the wrist.

His fingers dig into soft flesh. He plants a foot in the assassin's chest and yanks her arm hard, hearing a wet tearing sound, a liquid splatter across the tile floor.

Blood. The air is thick with the smell of it. Droplets spray onto his arms and face. His fingers let go and he hears a severed arm thump on the floor. He cringes and stares at his hand to find blood dripping from his fingertips.

Then he hears the sound of half a dozen blades being unsheathed and looks up to find knives leveled at him from every direction.

"Shiba Ichigo," says the man leading the group. "You are under arrest. Drop your weapon and surrender peacefully."

Ichigo's eyes wander past him, to the assassin on the floor with blood gushing from her shoulder, gasping and shaking but otherwise not making so much as a whimper. She seems to have been all but abandoned by her comrades.

"Have you no response, Shiba?" says the leader. "Shall we consider that resistance?"

Ichigo's fingertips prod at his chest, finding his shihakushou soaked in still-warm blood but the stab wound a fading scar. Right over his heart too. These bastard onmitsukidou don't miss.

"Yeah," he says, his hand moving to the sword on his back. "Yeah, you can consider it resistance."

He draws it. The ninjas vanish and Ichigo does too, leaping out of the way of one strike and blocking another hand enough to knock the dagger out of the assassin's hand. It clatters to the floor and Ichigo stomps down on it, snapping the blade, then twists around as another assassin flies at him. He raises his sword and winces as metal screeches in a long slash across the flat of his blade.

Behind him—the whisper of reiatsu that comes with shunpo. He thrusts a hand back blindly in a palm strike, feels it connect with someone's jaw, feels a knife land in his back.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" he cries, blasting away the guy in front of him in a rush of black. He leaps away with shunpo and lands on a countertop, back against the wall.

His reiatsu is black. Damn, that can't be good. He yanks a throwing knife out of his back and hurls it across the floor in a clatter. The wound immediately starts regenerating, just a shallow cut within a few seconds. He didn't want to rely on _that_ power, but dammit, it's just so easy. Half the time he's drawn on it before he even realizes, more instinct than thought. And the power calls to him with a siren's song, it seems to wield him more than the other way around. Why should he get injured if he doesn't have to? Why should he let his enemies walk away? 

He drags a hand over his face and his fingers run over a mask beginning to form around his eye. He hisses a curse between his teeth. In a battle like this?

He leans back against the wall, gasping for deep breaths. If he fights like he is now, the onmitsukidou unit is all going to end up like that first assassin, bleeding out from the stump of her arm on the floor.

The leader mistakes his move for weakness. In a blur of black he's in the air in front of Ichigo. Ichigo raises Zangetsu and their blades meet in a ringing clash.

"Where's Urahara?" Ichigo growls as he meets the man's eyes.

"The Squad Twelve captain is in custody. Surrender now and you may receive a more lenient fate."

"What does that mean?" Ichigo says. "What've I done?"

"Do not feign ignorance." The ninja withdraws his sword and flashes back to the ground. "The punishment for obtaining hollow powers is execution."

Ichigo grits his teeth. "You're not planning to execute Urahara, are you?"

"Urahara Kisuke will be tried by Central 46 for his crimes," the ninja intones.

"What crimes? Urahara tried to save us! He did nothing wrong!"

The man narrows his eyes. "Are you claiming that Urahara-taichou did not hollowfy four captains and lieutenants?"

Ichigo slashes his sword through the air. "Of course not!"

"Preposterous." The man raises his blade. "The evidence stands before me."

A growl comes from deep in Ichigo's throat. "I didn't ask for—"

He whirls around as a black-clad figure flies at him from the side. He raises his sword, clamps both hands on the hilt, and swings the base of the hilt into the man's forehead sledgehammer-style. The man crumples abruptly in a heap on the floor.

Ichigo winces and lurches a step back. Shit, he's just trying to take them down. He'd acted without thinking.

The onmitsukidou rushes him all at once. He leaps down from the table, raising his blade behind his back to deflect a dagger strike. He whirls around, flashing backward with his sword held like a shield in front of him. A flying blade tears a gash into his calf and goes clattering across the floor.

Ichigo hisses as pain flares in his leg and it collapses underneath him, pitching him to one knee. He grits his teeth, struggling to get back up, but it's dead weight under him. He'll recover quick enough, but two ninjas are already charging him.

He points his sword at them. "Getsuga—"

He stiffens and throws himself forward as a blade slashes diagonally across his back. He turns the move into a roll, comes up facing the other way, and brings his sword down. "—Tenshou!"

The torrent of energy swallows the ninja and blasts him into and through the far wall, leaving a hole almost the length of the room. A bit more power than Ichigo had wanted. He doesn't care.

He gets to his feet and leaps away from the ninjas behind him, whirling around, ignoring the pain that shoots though his leg and the blood trickling down his back. The leader of the onmitsukidou unit rushes him, in his face in an instant with his wakizashi drawn back to strike.

Ichigo's hand shoots out and catches the bare blade. The man's eyes widen. Ichigo rams his sword through his chest, just to the side of his heart, ribs splintering under the blade one after another. The man makes a gurgling sound and becomes dead weight at the end of Ichigo's sword. Someone else rushes Ichigo in a whisper of displaced air.

Ichigo doesn't bother freeing his sword. He plucks a knife from the belt of the man in front of him, spins around, and plunges it into his attacker's eye. The ninja screams and falls back, fingers clawing at it.

Ichigo tears his sword free of the leader's dead body with a scrape of metal and bone, flicking blood droplets into the air. He backs up, looking around for enemies—none. The lab is silent and still except for settling dust and debris. One wall almost completely blown away—he'll have to apologize to Urahara later. And—shadowed in the slanting light streaming through the windows—way too many still dark shapes strewn around him.

The sudden silence sets his ears ringing. He gasps for breath and the air hits him with the scents of blood and terror. He shakes his head, backing away.

"Fuck, _fuck._ What did I—"

Hearing a gasp and a scuff against the ground behind him, Ichigo whirls around. The man he'd stabbed in the eye has gotten to his feet, and lurches away from Ichigo, one hand clapped over his right eye without stopping the blood streaming from it. His back hits the edge of the countertop and he collapses, scrambling back. He freezes when Ichigo levels his cleaver at his throat.

"Urahara," Ichigo growls. "Where've you guys taken him?"

"I don't know!" the man says.

Ichigo's sword slams into the wall behind him, grazing his neck to draw blood. "Think harder!"

"Central 46," the man says. "Trial."

"Trial for what?" Ichigo says. He leans closer, plunging his sword into the ground near the man's leg. "What's going on? Tell me. Did Aizen set this up?"

In a lightning-fast motion, the man raises the knife stained in his blood and slashes it across his own throat.

"Fuck!" Ichigo lunges for him, grabs the knife, presses his hand over the man's throat, but it does nothing to slow the blood gushing out. The man's eyes are fixed on him as they glaze over.

Ichigo stands up shakily, stares at the blood covering his hand and dripping from his fingers, shudders and tries to wipe it off on a lab coat hanging nearby. He looks around the lab again. The sun is climbing steadily. He's wasted time. Still, he can't leave until he checks on every onmitsukidou member to make sure they're just unconscious, not dead or about to die from their injuries. The girl outside the door whose arm he'd ripped off is gone, leaving a trail of blood down the hallway. She must be smart.

So, Central 46 has their hands on Urahara, huh? Ichigo'd better pay a visit. And he may not spend too much effort on holding back either.

* * *

"And the eight subjects of his experimentation... shall be dealt with as hollows!"

"No!" Kisuke says. "You can't—"

The door to the underground chamber blows open behind him in a bang that echoes in the darkened room. The shadow in the doorway, silhouetted in the light outside, fumbles at the doorframe to support himself and slumps heavily against it. He looks up. Acid-yellow eyes glare through the darkness.

"Ichigo?" Kisuke says hoarsely.

Those eyes focus on him. Ichigo staggers a step forward, dragging his sword behind him with a harsh scraping sound against stone. Dark liquid drips from its tip. He straightens up, gaze sweeping over the chamber and taking in the assembled council.

"Trying to decide my fate without me, huh?" Ichigo growls. The council members scream and shout for guards. None respond.

Ichigo flashes down the stairs into the chamber, standing beside Kisuke. A red-streaked white mask stretches across the left side of his face, and his irises are bright yellow instead of their usual brown. Kisuke's reiatsu-concealing cloak is throw over his shoulders. He points his sword at the faceless assembly.

"What the hell is going on here? Why has Urahara-san been arrested?"

"He is guilty!" a reedy voice calls out above the crowd. "He has been conducting hollowfication experiments!"

"That isn't true at all!" Ichigo says. "Urahara-san was trying to help us!"

He steps forward, clenching his free hand into a fist. "It was Aizen! Aizen did this to us! He's a traitor, he—"

"That's impossible!" someone shouts. "Aizen-fukutaichou was here the whole night!"

"No!" Ichigo says. "He was there! I saw him with my own eyes! Do you think I would lie?"

"It's your word against the word of one hundred and twenty-five shinigami. Who do you think we'll believe?"

"Aizen tricked them!" Ichigo says. "He has this ability, he calls it Absolute Hypnosis—he was bragging to us about it!"

"Nonsense! Kyoka Suigetsu's ability is manipulation of mist!"

"You think it is!" Ichigo says.

"How could Aizen hypnotize so many people at once?"

"I don't know, but he did it! Urahara's innocent! He was trying to help us!"

"Have you any evidence?"

Ichigo looks to Kisuke, who can do nothing but shrug. He should've known Aizen would try something like this, should've come up with a contingency in case anything happened—but he hadn't been thinking clearly last night. And now it seems he—Ichigo, everybody—had fallen into Aizen's trap.

"That's enough!" a man bellows. "We do not accept the testimonies of hollows!"

"What?" Ichigo takes a step backwards. He reaches up to his face involuntarily, the tips of his fingers brushing against his mask. He grimaces, visibly shaken.

"I'm not a hollow," he says quietly. "How am I a hollow? I'm a shinigami of the Gotei 13! You can't just decide to put me down like I'm some monster!"

"The ruling body of Soul Society must act in a way that maintains the peace of Soul Society, and most effectively eliminates threats to Soul Society. Such is the law."

"Your law is going to get Kensei-san killed. It's going to get Mashiro and Shinji-san killed. Your law is going to execute the victims, let mass murderers walk free, and make innocents pay?" Ichigo curls his hand into a trembling fist. "That's not right! I won't stand for your laws!"

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!" a man shouts. "You must understand that!"

Ichigo growls in a low tone and there's something else mixed in with it, something not quite human.

"I don't care what justifications you give. I won't let you kill them." He takes a step forward, slashing his sword out to one side. "I won't let you kill my captain, I won't let you kill Shinji, I won't let you kill any of them, not while I'm alive!"

"You intend to obstruct the deliverance of justice? I think your actions thus far have more than proven that you are a threat to Seireitei, Shiba Ichigo."

Ichigo snarls, deep in his throat. He takes hold of his zanpakuto's hilt in both hands, a feral light burning within his eyes. "I'll show you threat." He leaps forward and swings his sword in the direction of the man who had just spoken. A wave of chaotic black energy crashes against an invisible wall and disperses.

"Ichigo!" Kisuke shouts. Ichigo doesn't acknowledge him.

The assembly is in panic. "Guards!" people scream, clamoring over each other to get away from him. "Isn't there anyone?" "He's going to kill us!"

"He won't get through the barrier!" someone shouts.

"You think?" Ichigo bares his teeth in a manic grin. Standing in midair, he slashes the tip of his zanpakuto against the barrier, tracing a path of faint blue sparks that light up its surface. "Let's see how long your little wall can hold up."

"Ichigo, stop!"

Ichigo flinches. Everyone turns toward the door as it crashes open. A lithe figure stands at the doorway, shadow cast deeply across the chamber by the sunlight from outside. White cloth is wrapped around her head and body, obscuring her face, but Kisuke recognizes his childhood friend immediately. He inwardly winces at dragging her into this mess—can't he get anything right today?

The Shihouin princess flashes into the chamber and shatters both Kisuke and Tessai's shackles in a single swift move. She gestures at Ichigo, who is standing by the side staring at her. "Come on!"

Ichigo flinches away and raises his blade. In a blur, Yoruichi's right next to him. Her hand lashes out, strikes his sword hand and the back of his neck, snatches his sword from him and catches him as he collapses. A white ribbon whisks around her, Kisuke, and Tessai, and the four are gone in a flash of light.

* * *

Yoruichi lets Ichigo go and he crumples to the ground, wincing and rubbing at his neck. He looks up and his eyes widen as he notices his surroundings. Guess he's never seen anything like Kisuke's training room before.

Yoruichi heaves a sigh and pulls the cloth wrap off her face. She slings Ichigo's zanpakutou off her back and leans it against the ground, fingers tapping idly on its hilt as she watches Ichigo.

"Give that back," Ichigo rasps, pushing himself up to his knees. Those eyes glare at Yoruichi in a way that Kisuke can't recognize as Ichigo at all.

Yoruichi turns a frown at Kisuke, one that strains her brows. She doesn't often look worried. "Is he okay?"

Kisuke sighs and raises a hand. "Bakudou # 63: Sajou Sabaku."

Ichigo hisses and tries to get up as the glowing chains wind around his body, pinning his arms. He falls to the ground, snarling and struggling, black reiatsu flaring around him.

"You bastard!" he yells. "What the hell! Get me out of this! Give me back my sword!"

Kisuke tenses but the kidou holds for the moment. He turns back to Tessai. "Could you put up a barrier over the hideout?"

Tessai nods and makes a swift series of hand signs, weaving reiryoku into kidou. Kisuke gingerly steps closer to Ichigo and kneels down. Ichigo growls and snaps at him.

"Ichigo, listen," Kisuke says. "Do you trust me?"

Ichigo stops struggling. He blinks up at Kisuke, looking puzzled, frustrated. He clenches his jaw and turns away, closing his eyes. "Well, yeah. Yeah, I trust you."

"I can't return your zanpakutou until I'm sure you won't do something you'll regret later with it," Kisuke says. "I'm sorry."

Ichigo blinks wearily at him, then pushes himself to a seated position with a groan. "What do you think I'm gonna do with it?"

"Maa, it would be troublesome if the Central 46 judiciary wound up dead."

Ichigo frowns. "I wouldn't…"

He glances away. "Whatever. Get rid of the bakudou."

"I'm sorry." Kisuke offers his a vague smile. "Have a bit more patience." He turns to Yoruichi. "You have good timing. I'm glad you brought us here."

Yoruichi snorts. "Good timing, my ass. You, Kisuke, have the worst timing ever. I'm the leader of the Onmitsukidou. I heard the warrant go out for your arrest, the circumstances made me suspicious, and I went over to your labs." She glances over her shoulder at Shinji slumped behind a barrier along with the other captains and lieutenants. "He told me the whole story. As always, where there's trouble, I'll find you."

Kisuke wanders over toward Shinji. "You brought them here?"

"I brought your new gigai model too." Yoruichi crosses her arms. "So, what's our next move?"

Kisuke's shoulders slump. "Next move…" He glances around, at Shinji, unconscious with a mask over his face, Ichigo staring at him with eyes that aren't his own, looking weary and defeated in the kidou binding him.

"Urahara-san," Ichigo says, sounding worried.

Kisuke shakes his head with a sigh. "We'll escape to the human world. I'm glad you brought the cloak, Ichigo. With it and the reiatsu-concealing gigai I can create right now, we'll be able to effectively disappear from Soul Society's radar. We can take our time."

Ichigo scowls. "And do what?"

Kisuke gestures at the hollowfied shinigami. "Cure this. Figure out the weaknesses of Aizen's Absolute Hypnosis. Plan action against him. It'll all take time. There's nothing we can do right now."

Ichigo straightens up. "That can't be. You're just throwing the fight?"

"There's no fight," Kisuke says.

"You're just gonna run?"

Kisuke bows his head. "Yes."

"We can't!" Ichigo says. "We can't just let Aizen win! If Shinji is gone, Aizen will become captain!"

"Yes."

"We'll all be treated as criminals, and Aizen will get off scot-free!"

"Mm," Yoruichi says. "On that, technically you are a criminal. You've been charged with two counts of murder, several counts of assault, and treason for attempting violence on the Central 46 council."

Kisuke frowns at Ichigo. Ichigo shuts his eyes and groans.

"What exactly happened?" Kisuke asks carefully.

"Wasn't supposed to be that way," Ichigo says in a brittle voice.

"It was the Punishment Force unit sent out to apprehend him," Yoruichi says. "Can you believe it? An entire unit, taken out by this whelp. What a crying shame. Did I really let standards slip so much?"

Ichigo cringes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"Oh, hush," Yoruichi says, appearing next to him and tousling his hair. "We hear you."

Ichigo shakes her off with a growl under his breath. He fixes his eyes on Kisuke, scowl edged by a bitter weariness that doesn't seem right on him. "What did Aizen do to us? Really?"

"Hollowfication," Kisuke begins, "is an illegal process to give a shinigami the powers of a hollow. Aizen's method is injecting the reiryoku of a hollow into a soul, then introducing a toxin that disrupts the balance between both, making the original soul closer to a hollow."

Ichigo glares down at the ground, worryingly quiet. "The powers of a hollow?"

Kisuke shrugs. "Combat prowess. You may have noticed something."

Ichigo looks up. "I'm not going to start eating people's souls, am I?"

"You seem to be getting along well enough so far."

"And I suppose that's why you have me in a kidou," Ichigo snaps.

"That reminds me," Kisuke says. He waves a hand dismissively at Ichigo and the golden chains binding him dissolve into light. Ichigo blinks, stretching his arms out and rolling his shoulders.

Kisuke gives him a crooked smile. "I needed to assess your mental state. I apologize about that."

Ichigo makes a displeased sound and stands up slowly, turning to look around him. He walks up to one of the sandstone crags and flicks it with a finger, leaving a mark on the rock. He looks around at the skeletal trees and fake sky.

"This is Yoruichi and mine's playground," Kisuke says. "It's an underground chamber below Soukyoku Hill, something only Yoruichi, Tessai, and I know about. Of course, you may not be able to tell it's underground. My genius engineering ensures—"

"Oh, cut the crap, Urahara," Ichigo says, and Kisuke hides a smile behind the boy's back.

"Well, in any case," Kisuke continues, "It's the best place we have for a temporary base right now. Care to help me out? We have a lot of preparation to do before we can get to the human world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's something no one cares about. The statuses of the ninjas.
> 
> Ninja 1: Arm torn off  
> Ninja 2: Taken out by Ichigo's first Getsuga, minor injuries  
> Ninja 3: Head injury from getting whacked by Zangetsu. Gets amnesia, retires  
> Ninja 4: Thrown through wall by Ichigo's second Getsuga, major injuries  
> Ninja 5: Collateral from same Getsuga, minor injuries  
> Ninja 6: Stabbed in eye, suicide  
> Leader: Stabbed through chest, dead  
> Ninja 8: In gay relationship with Ninja #1, takes her and runs off to have the life they longed for together. Currently fugitive from the onmitsukidou
> 
> This is all 100%
> 
> Please comment! Comments are the best.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a fic I've been planning for a long time. It's going to be quite long. Let's see how far I can get with it.
> 
> Please comment. Comments are the best ^^


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